Alternate to email for messages of general interest

ABSTRACT

This invention is an online system to forward and discuss messages of common interest among members of the system. The system is based on a central server that manages all member accounts, messages and message flow among the members. The system introduces the concept of private comments on a public message. While the message is open to all members of the system, each comment on the message is restricted to be viewed only by members to whom the comment is sent to. This allows an email like interface to forward and discuss the same message among different groups of people. The system also provides metrics related to the overall reach and popularity of the message.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention pertains to an online computer system, people becoming members in the system, messages in the system with unique identities, central storage and processing of message flow, message discussion among different groups of members and overall metrics of the message.

BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION

Emails and Blogs are widely used to share an interesting article or a public social message and discuss it with other people.

While email is a powerful tool for personal communication, it has several limitations when used to forward a message of general interest.

-   -   a) When friends forward an email to their friends, it usually         includes the original author's comments and his email address.         This continues as the email gets forwarded recursively. After         repeated forwarding, one can see all the people that forwarded         the email and also see the various comments that friends of         friends made. Hence this method of sharing the public message         compromises the privacy of the participants.     -   b) There is no fail-safe way to track the progress of the         message. As the email gets forwarded, different email servers         process each email and there is no universal identifier for a         message.     -   c) Since email is primarily used for personal communication, a         public message can be considered an intrusion on one's privacy.     -   d) Threading emails on the same topic gets complicated when         everyone in the discussion group do not use the same email         server. Some email servers do not populate the ‘Reply-To’ or         ‘References’ headers of an email correctly. Also, if the same         message is sent to two groups of people, say friends and family,         as two different messages, they cannot be threaded together by         the email program.     -   e) Chain forwarding of email makes inefficient use of computing         resources.     -   f) There is no easy way to discourage an email recipient to not         forward an email.

On the other hand, Blogs and Message groups do not have any privacy. They expose the message and all the user comments to everyone. A private blog restricts the message itself to a few people but not the comments on the message.

This invention is an alternate system for forwarding and discussing messages of general interest. The system exposes the message to all the members while each member can discuss the message with just his friends.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This invention describes a system that has the following characteristics:

-   -   a) People register with the system and become members to send         and receive messages. All messages are read, sent and received         through the same central system.     -   b) Each new message is uniquely identified with a single copy on         the server. This allows the system to track each message as the         message is discussed or forwarded by members.     -   c) A message is differentiated from comments on the message.         When a member creates a new message, he specifies the message         and his comments (on the message) separately.     -   d) Forwarding does not create a new message. When forwarding, a         member creates a new comment on the same original message.         Replying is just a particular case of forwarding where the         recipient is the same as the sender of the message.     -   e) Comments received from another member cannot be forwarded.         This implies that a member can only view comments of other         members that were sent to him by those members.     -   f) A member can see all his comments and other members' comments         that were sent to him, together with the message, as one thread.         This is regardless of how many different times he forwarded the         message or how many different people he sent the message to.     -   g) System maintains cumulative metrics on the message including         how many people viewed the message, forwarded it, how many         comments were made, which links in the message were clicked,         what form values in the message were submitted and others.     -   h) System shows advertisements related to the message using an         Ad Server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings describe the preferred embodiment of the invention in which the system is implemented as an online website:

FIG. 1 shows the software architecture of the system

FIG. 2 shows the opening web page in which a person can register with the system or existing members can log in to the system.

FIG. 3 shows a web page in which an user sees the list of latest messages that were forwarded to him and forwarded by him.

FIG. 4 shows a web page in which an user sees a message and all the comments on that message by himself and other members in reverse chronological order.

FIG. 5 shows a web page in which an user can compose a new message, add his comments and forward it to his friends.

FIG. 6 shows a web page in which an user can forward a HTTP link to his friends.

FIG. 7 shows a web page which allows an user to forward a message that he received from some other member.

FIG. 8 shows a web page that displays the user's contacts list.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 describes the basic software architecture of the preferred embodiment. A database server like MySQL will store all the data while the application server will perform the business logic. A web server will allow members to connect to the system over the internet using a client software like a web browser. All these elements are part of a standard three-tier software architecture, which is common in modern web applications.

FIG. 2 represents the opening page or “Home page” of the preferred embodiment, which will be a website with a standard HTTP address. From this homepage, one can submit a web form to become a member or if he is already a member, can login to the system using his username and password. Henceforth, the current logged in member is referred as the “user”.

FIG. 3 represents the first web page that the user will see after he logs in to the system. It lists the messages that have been forwarded by other members to the user and messages that have been forwarded by the user to other members. It is arranged in reverse chronological order of the time that the message was forwarded.

FIG. 4 represents a message that has been forwarded by another member to the user or a message that the user forwarded to other members. It also includes all the comments on that message that were forwarded by other members to the user and all the comments on that message that the user forwarded to other members. All the comments are arranged in reverse chronological order. The system shows who sent each comment and to whom it was sent to.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 represent the page in which the user can compose a new message and forward it. FIG. 5 shows an user composing his own message while FIG. 6. shows an user forwarding a link to an external content. In both figures, the comments are specified separately from the message. In the ‘To’ field, the user can specify one or more member's username or email addresses separated by a comma.

FIG. 7 represents the page that allows the user to forward a message that he received from another member with his own comments. In the ‘To’ field, the user can specify one or more member's username or email addresses separated by a comma. The user can only forward his own comments with the message. The user cannot forward the comments of another member. This means that the system, in its normal use, will not allow the user to forward the comments of other people. Normal use of the system is defined as clicking on any button or link provided by the system. It is not considered normal use of the system if the user cuts and pastes or manually copies another member's comment into his own comment box.

Addressing Other Members:

The user can forward messages to other members using their unique username or their registered email address with the system. Each member can register any number of email addresses with the system. When a member registers an email address with the system, the system will send an email to that address with a unique URL. The member has to click on that URL to complete the registration of that email. This process is widely used in online systems to confirm that an user owns the email address that he is trying to register. Once a member registers an email address, other members can forward a message to that member using his registered email address. The system will map the email address to the member account and forward the message to the member that registered that email address.

If a member forwards a message to an email address that is not registered in the system, then the system can send an email to that address inviting that person to join the system.

Contacts List:

When the user receives a message from another member that member gets added to the user's contacts list. Also, when the user forwards a message to another member, that member gets added to the user's contacts list. The user can also manually add or remove other member's username in his contacts list.

Distribution Lists:

When the user forwards a message to a group of other members, the system automatically includes that group as a distribution list, if that group is not already present in the list. The user can give a unique name to each group in the distribution list. When the member subsequently includes one of the members in that list in the ‘To:’ box, the system can show an auto-completion list of all the distribution lists that have that member. This allows the user to quickly pick frequently used groups of friends that he forwards messages regularly.

Staying in Touch with Friends:

FIG. 8 shows the user's contacts list. It includes the last date and time a message was forwarded from the member and to the member. This page helps the user to stay in touch with friends by forwarding messages of mutual interest.

This page could be enhanced to include several other statistics related to each contact including:

-   -   a) Total messages and comments forwarded and received to the         friend     -   b) Total days since forwarding/receiving the first message         to/from the friend.     -   c) Average number of messages and comments from/to the friend         per day/week/month.         Dealing with SPAM:

Since this system allows the user to send a message to any other member using their ID or email address, it creates a situation in which a member receives unwanted messages.

The user can block another member from forwarding messages to him by explicitly blocking his username. If more than a few members block an user, then the system can mark that user as a spammer and prevent that user from forwarding any more messages.

As soon as the system decides that a message is SPAM, it can remove that message from all members' message list. This is not possible in a regular email, as messages are sent to another email server as soon as the sender sends them. This system maintains a single copy of the message in one central place. This allows the system to block a SPAM message early and prevent its propagation.

SPAM setting can be specific to each member. Each member can specify how many other members have to mark a message as SPAM before it disappears from his inbox. Further, the system can have an overall limit at which the message disappears from everyone's inbox. The system need not remove a SPAM message from a member's inbox if he has already read the message and forwarded it.

Also, spamming exists because it is easy to send an email to a large number of people from any computer on the internet. Since this is a central system that manages all message flow, it can restrict the number of forwards from the user. Typically, this restriction will not be imposed on forwarding messages to members who have already forwarded a message to the user.

Message Versioning and Additions:

Members that view the message can mark the message to say that they are interested in additional content. The author can see how many members expressed interest in additional content to his message. The author can add additional content to the message after he forwards it. If the author adds new content, each viewer that expressed interest in additional content will see the message as if it was forwarded to them again. The author can also version control the message and the system can show either all the versions of the message or just the latest version to other members.

Message Templates:

The system can provide message templates to create messages for a particular purpose. These messages will typically embed web forms in the message. When the message viewers submit an embedded web form, the system will execute an online transaction or send an online communication or save the web form values for further processing. Such message templates can be created to:

-   -   a) Buy a product or a service     -   b) Become a member of an organization     -   c) Participate in a survey     -   d) Grassroots Advocacy—Send a message to a legislator     -   e) Fundraising—Contribute money to a cause or an organization

Advertisements:

Typically, the system would use an Ad Server to manage all the advertisements that are shown to the members. Additionally, the system can allow the author to control the advertisements shown to the message viewers. As an example, an author that represents a company that sells certain consumer products, can send a funny story to a list of members while showing an advertisement for the company's products on the side. When the story gets forwarded to other members, those other members also see the same advertisements.

Metrics:

The system can maintain and display several metrics related to the spread and popularity of messages. Some of the possible metrics are:

-   -   a) How many members read a message     -   b) How many members forwarded a message     -   c) How many times a message was forwarded.     -   d) How many members expressed interest in seeing updates to the         message.

Non-Forwardable Note:

The user can create a new empty message but write some comments and forward them to another member. Since the other member cannot forward the comment, this usage allows the user to send a ‘non-forwardable’ note to another member. Such a feature does not exist in regular email. 

1. An online system in which (a) a person becomes a member by registering with an username and password and such a person is henceforth referred as a “member” and (b) a member can create a message in the system and such a message is henceforth referred as a “message” and the member that created said message is henceforth referred as the “author” of the message and (c) said system maintains a unique identifier and a single copy of said message and (d) any member can view said message in the system and (e) any member can create a comment on said message and ask the system to show the message and his comment to some other members and this step is henceforth referred as “forwarding” and said comment henceforth referred as a “comment” and (f) a member can forward said message any number of times and (g) a member cannot forward any other member's comments and (h) a member can see comments of other members that were forwarded to him and his own comments and (i) a member cannot see comments of other members that were not forwarded to him.
 2. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member can add a subject line when he forwards said message.
 3. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can add a signature to said message.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can alternately restrict the message to be viewed only by members that the message gets forwarded to.
 5. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can restrict the message to not be forwarded by anyone other than the author.
 6. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said message is a hyperlink to an external content like a web page or audio content or video content and the system shows the external content when a member views the message.
 7. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said message and said comment are in plain text or HTML or DHTML or XML or XHTML or PDF or other common internet formats.
 8. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said message and said comment have one or more embedded hyperlinks and web forms and audio files and video files.
 9. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said message and said comment have one or more downloadable document attachments.
 10. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member registers his email addresses with said system and when another member forwards a message to one of said member's email addresses said system forwards that message to said member.
 11. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member can block certain other members from forwarding messages to him.
 12. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member can mark certain message as Spam.
 13. The system as set forth in claim 12 wherein said system can remove a message from the system if more than certain percentage of members mark the message as spam.
 14. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member can add and remove other members in said member's contacts list.
 15. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system includes all the other members that forwarded a message to said member and all the other members to whom said member forwarded a message into said member's contacts list.
 16. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system restricts said member from forwarding said message to more than certain number of other members.
 17. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system shows message forwarding statistics including last time a message was forwarded and received and total messages forwarded and received with each other member in said member's contact list.
 18. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system creates a distribution list when said member forwards a message to a new combination of other members.
 19. The system as set forth in claim 18 wherein said system uses previously created distribution lists to provide auto-completion list for addressing a message when said member forwards a message.
 20. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system is implemented as software on a server computer or a server farm of computers.
 21. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system can further be accessed by a client software over the internet or private intranets.
 22. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system can be used through a web browser or standalone client software or through a module of another software or through a add-on to email software or through a software on a wireless device.
 23. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system further includes said message and said comment in a full text search index.
 24. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said member can add search tags to said message and said comment.
 25. The system as set forth in claim 23 and claim 24 wherein said member can search for messages and comments using keywords and tags.
 26. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system records and displays cumulative metrics on said member's actions on said message including viewing and forwarding.
 27. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said system displays cumulative metrics on the usage of each link that is embedded in said message.
 28. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said system displays cumulative metrics on form values for each web form that is embedded in said message.
 29. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said system displays cumulative metrics on the amount of time members played each audio or video file embedded in said message.
 30. The system as set forth in claim 9 wherein said system displays download metrics on each document that is attached to said message.
 31. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system forwards said message to a member as a promotion for said message.
 32. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can remove said message from the system.
 33. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said system further fulfills an online transaction when said member submits a web form in said message.
 34. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said system further sends an online communication when said member submits a web form in said message.
 35. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said system uses a version control tool like Concurrent Versions System and allows the author to change the content of said message after the message has been forwarded and allows other members to see one or more concurrent versions of the message.
 36. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can add more content to said message after the message has been forwarded and the message with the additional content is visible to all the other members.
 37. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author can forward an empty message with a non-empty comment to another member.
 38. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said author uses a message template to create said message and the message template can include one or more web forms to fulfill an online transaction and send an online communication.
 39. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the system uses an Advertisement Server to show advertisements along with said message.
 40. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said author manages the advertisements that are shown along with said message. 